Zein-based peptide tags for the expression and purification of bioactive peptides

ABSTRACT

Zein-based peptide tags, referred to here as inclusion body tags (IBTs), are disclosed useful for the generation of insoluble fusion peptides. The fusion peptides comprise at least one inclusion body tag operably linked to a peptide of interest. Expression of the fusion peptide in a host cell results in a product that is insoluble and contained within inclusion bodies in the cell and/or cell lysate. The inclusion bodies may then be purified and the protein of interest may be isolated after cleavage from the inclusion body tag.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C.§119 from U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/852,838, filed Oct. 19, 2006.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to the field of protein expression and purification from microbial cells. More specifically, a family of peptide tags has been discovered that are useful in the generation of insoluble fusion proteins.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The efficient production of bioactive proteins and peptides has become a hallmark of the biomedical and industrial biochemical industry. Bioactive peptides and proteins are used as curative agents in a variety of diseases such as diabetes (insulin), viral infections and leukemia (interferon), diseases of the immune system (interleukins), and red blood cell deficiencies (erythropoietin) to name a few. Additionally, large quantities of proteins and peptides are needed for various industrial applications including, for example, the pulp and paper and pulp industries, textiles, food industries, sugar refining, wastewater treatment, production of alcoholic beverages and as catalysts for the generation of new pharmaceuticals.

With the advent of the discovery and implementation of combinatorial peptide screening technologies such as bacterial display (Kemp, D. J.; Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 78(7): 4520-4524 (1981); yeast display (Chien et al., Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 88(21): 9578-82 (1991)), combinatorial solid phase peptide synthesis (U.S. Pat. No. 5,449,754, U.S. Pat. No. 5,480,971, U.S. Pat. No. 5,585,275, U.S. Pat. No. 5,639,603), and phage display technology (U.S. Pat. No. 5,223,409, U.S. Pat. No. 5,403,484, U.S. Pat. No. 5,571,698, U.S. Pat. No. 5,837,500) new applications for peptides having specific binding affinities have been developed. In particular, peptides are being looked to as linkers in biomedical fields for the attachment of diagnostic and pharmaceutical agents to surfaces (see Grinstaff et al, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2003/0185870 and Linter in U.S. Pat. No. 6,620,419), as well as in the personal care industry for the attachment of benefit agents to body surfaces such as hair and skin (see commonly owned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/935,642, and Janssen et al. U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2003/0152976), and in the printing industry for the attachment of pigments to print media (see commonly owned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/935,254).

In some cases commercially useful proteins and peptides may be synthetically generated or isolated from natural sources. However, these methods are often expensive, time consuming and characterized by limited production capacity. The preferred method of protein and peptide production is through the fermentation of recombinantly constructed organisms, engineered to over-express the protein or peptide of interest. Although preferable to synthesis or isolation, recombinant expression of peptides has a number of obstacles to be overcome in order to be a cost-effective means of production. For example, peptides (and in particular short peptides) produced in a cellular environment are susceptible to degradation from the action of native cellular proteases. Additionally, purification can be difficult, resulting in poor yields depending on the nature of the protein or peptide of interest.

One means to mitigate the above difficulties is the use the genetic chimera for protein and peptide expression. A chimeric protein or “fusion protein” is a polypeptide comprising at least one portion of the desired protein product fused to at least one portion comprising a peptide tag. The peptide tag may be used to assist protein folding, assist post expression purification, protect the protein from the action of degradative enzymes, and/or assist the protein in passing through the cell membrane.

In many cases it is useful to express a protein or peptide in insoluble form, particularly when the peptide of interest is rather short, normally soluble, and subject to proteolytic degradation within the host cell. Production of the peptide in insoluble form both facilitates simple recovery and protects the peptide from the undesirable proteolytic degradation. One means to produce the peptide in insoluble form is to recombinantly produce the peptide as part of an insoluble fusion protein by including in the fusion construct at least one peptide tag (i.e., an inclusion body tag) that induces inclusion body formation. Typically, the fusion protein is designed to include at least one cleavable peptide linker so that the peptide of interest can be subsequently recovered from the fusion protein. The fusion protein may be designed to include a plurality of inclusion body tags, cleavable peptide linkers, and regions encoding the peptide of interest.

Fusion proteins comprising a carrier protein tag that facilitates the expression of insoluble proteins are well known in the art. Typically, the tag portion of the chimeric or fusion protein is large, increasing the likelihood that the fusion protein will be insoluble. Example of large peptide tags typically used include, but are not limited to chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (Dykes et al., Eur. J. Biochem., 174:411 (1988), β-galactosidase (Schellenberger et al., Int. J. Peptide Protein Res., 41:326 (1993); Shen et al., Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA 281:4627 (1984); and Kempe et al., Gene, 39:239 (1985)), glutathione-S-transferase (Ray et al., Bio/Technology, 11:64 (1993) and Hancock et al. (WO94/04688)), the N-terminus of L-ribulokinase (U.S. Pat. No. 5,206,154 and Lai et al., Antimicrob. Agents & Chemo., 37:1614 (1993), bacteriophage T4 gp55 protein (Gramm et al., Bio/Technology, 12:1017 (1994), bacterial ketosteroid isomerase protein (Kuliopulos et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc. 116:4599 (1994), ubiquitin (Pilon et al., Biotechnol. Prog., 13:374-79 (1997), bovine prochymosin (Haught et al., Biotechnol. Bioengineer. 57:55-61 (1998), and bactericidal/permeability-increasing protein (“BPI”; Better, M. D. and Gavit, P D., U.S. Pat. No. 6,242,219). The art is replete with specific examples of this technology, see for example U.S. Pat. No. 6,613,548, describing fusion protein of proteinaceous tag and a soluble protein and subsequent purification from cell lysate; U.S. Pat. No. 6,037,145, teaching a tag that protects the expressed chimeric protein from a specific protease; U.S. Pat. No. 5,648,244, teaching the synthesis of a fusion protein having a tag and a cleavable linker for facile purification of the desired protein; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,215,896; 5,302,526; 5,330,902; and US 2005221444, describing fusion tags containing amino acid compositions specifically designed to increase insolubility of the chimeric protein or peptide.

Although the above methods are useful for the expression of fusion proteins, they often incorporate large fusion tags that decrease the potential yield of desired peptide of interest. This is particularly problematic in situations where the desired protein or peptide is small. In such situations it is advantageous to use a small fusion tag to maximized yield.

There remains a need therefore for peptide fusion tags that facilitate the insolubility of fusion proteins where the peptide of interest is small and appreciably soluble in the host cell.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The stated problem has been solved though the discovery of a set of short inclusion body tags (IBTs) derived from a Zea mays zein protein that are useful for synthesizing fusion proteins for increased expression and simple purification of short peptides (“peptides of interest”), especially short peptides useful in affinity applications.

Accordingly, the present invention provides an inclusion body tag comprising at least 15 contiguous amino acids from residues 76 to 175 of SEQ ID NO: 2 with the proviso that the inclusion body tag is not SEQ ID NO: 2.

In another aspect, the invention provides a fusion peptide comprising the inclusion body tag of the invention operably linked to a peptide of interest. The inclusion body tag can be a leader or trailer sequence within the fusion protein. In a preferred aspect, the fusion peptide is engineered to include at least one cleavable peptide linker. Inclusion of a cleavable peptide linker is useful for separating the inclusion body tag and the peptide of interest. In another preferred aspect, the cleavable peptide linker comprises at least one acid cleavable aspartic acid—proline (DP) moiety.

In an additional aspect, the invention provides a method for expressing a peptide of interest in insoluble form comprising:

a) synthesizing a genetic construct encoding a fusion peptide comprising a first portion encoding the inclusion body tag of the invention operably linked to a second portion encoding a peptide of interest;

b) transforming an expression host cell with the genetic construct of (a);

c) growing the transformed host cell of (b) under conditions wherein the genetic construct is expressed and the encoded fusion peptide is in insoluble form; and

d) recovering said fusion peptide in insoluble form.

In another embodiment, a method for the production of a peptide of interest is provided comprising:

a) synthesizing a genetic construct encoding a fusion peptide comprising a first portion encoding the inclusion body tag of any of claims 1-3 operably linked to a second portion encoding a peptide of interest; wherein said first portion and said second portion are separated by at least one cleavable peptide linker;

b) transforming an expression host cell with the genetic construct of (a);

c) growing the transformed host cell of (b) under conditions wherein the genetic construct is expressed and the encoded fusion peptide is in insoluble form;

d) recovering the fusion peptide in insoluble form;

e) cleaving said at least one cleavable peptide linker whereby said first portion of the fusion peptide is no longer fused to the peptide of interest; and

f) recovering said peptide of interest.

In a further aspect, the invention provides a chimeric genetic construct encoding a fusion protein comprising at least one of the present inclusion body tags and at least one peptide of interest.

In yet another aspect, the invention provides expression vectors and microbial host cells comprising the present chimeric genetic constructs.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE BIOLOGICAL SEQUENCES

The following sequences comply with 37 C.F.R. 1.821-1.825 (“Requirements for Patent Applications Containing Nucleotide Sequences and/or Amino Acid Sequence Disclosures—the Sequence Rules”) and are consistent with World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Standard ST.25 (1998) and the sequence listing requirements of the EPC and PCT (Rules 5.2 and 49.5(a-bis), and Section 208 and Annex C of the Administrative Instructions). The symbols and format used for nucleotide and amino acid sequence data comply with the rules set forth in 37 C.F.R.§1.822.

A Sequence Listing is provided herewith on Compact Disk. The contents of the Compact Disk containing the Sequence Listing are hereby incorporated by reference in compliance with 37 CFR 1.52(e). The Compact Disks are submitted in triplicate and are identical to one another. The disks are labeled “Copy 1—Sequence Listing”, “Copy 2—Sequence Listing”, and CRF. The disks contain the following file: CL3262 US NA.ST25 having the following size: 209,000 bytes and which was created Nov. 30, 2006.

SEQ ID NO: 1 is the nucleotide sequence of the opaque2 modifier (also referred to herein as “gamma zeinA”) coding region from Zea mays.

SEQ ID NO: 2 is the amino acid sequence of the 27 kDa gamma zeinA protein (GenBank® AAP32017).

SEQ ID NO: 3 is the nucleotide sequence of the TBP1 coding sequence encoding the TBP101 peptide.

SEQ ID NO: 4 is the amino acid sequence of the TBP101 peptide.

SEQ ID NOs: 5-9 are the nucleotide sequences of oligonucleotides used to synthesize TBP1.

SEQ ID NO: 10 and 11 are the nucleotide sequences of the primers used to PCR amplify TBP1.

SEQ ID NO: 12 is the nucleotide sequence of pENTR™/D-TOPO® plasmid (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, Calif.).

SEQ ID NO: 13 is the nucleotide sequence of the pDEST plasmid (Invitrogen).

SEQ ID NO: 14 is the nucleotide sequence of the coding region encoding the INK101 fusion peptide.

SEQ ID NO: 15 is the amino acid sequence of the INK101 fusion peptide.

SEQ ID NO: 16 is the nucleotide sequence of plasmid pLX121.

SEQ ID NOs: 17 and 18 are the nucleotide sequences of primers used to introduce an acid cleavable aspartic acid-proline dipeptide linker into TBP101.

SEQ ID NO: 19 is the nucleotide sequence of the coding region encoding the INK101DP peptide.

SEQ ID NO: 20 is the amino acid sequence of the INK101DP peptide.

SEQ ID NOs: 21-110 are the nucleotide sequences of oligonucleotides used to prepare the present inclusion body tags.

SEQ ID NOs: 111-155 are the amino acid sequences of peptides evaluated as potential inclusion body tags.

SEQ ID NOs: 156-245 are the nucleotide and corresponding amino acid sequences of the fusion proteins created by fusing the present inclusion body tags to the modified TBP101 peptide.

SEQ ID NO: 246 is the amino acid sequence of the T7 translational enhancer.

SEQ ID NO: 247 is the amino acid sequence of inclusion body tag IBT-180.

SEQ ID NO: 248 is the amino acid sequence of inclusion body tag IBT-181.

SEQ ID NO: 249 is the nucleic acid sequence of the chimeric gene IBT 180-TBP101.

SEQ ID NO: 250 is the amino acid sequence of the fusion peptide IBT 180-TBP101.

SEQ ID NO: 251 is the nucleic acid sequence of the chimeric gene IBT 181-TBP101.

SEQ ID NO: 252 is the amino acid sequence of the fusion peptide IBT 181-TBP101.

SEQ ID NOs: 253-355 are examples of amino acid sequences of body surface binding peptides, SEQ ID NOs 253-260 are skin binding peptides, SEQ ID NOs 261-353 are hair binding peptides, and SEQ ID NOs: 354-355 are nail binding peptides.

SEQ ID NOs: 356-384 are examples of antimicrobial peptide sequences.

SEQ ID NOs: 385-410 are examples of pigment binding peptides, SEQ ID NOs: 385-388 bind carbon black, SEQ ID NOs: 389-397 are Cromophtal® yellow (Ciba Specialty Chemicals, Basel, Switzerland) binding peptides, SEQ ID NOs: 398-400 are Sunfast® magenta (Sun Chemical Corp., Parsippany, N.J.) binding peptides, and SEQ ID NOs: 401-410 are Sunfast® blue binding peptides.

SEQ ID NOs: 411-444 are examples of polymer binding peptides, SEQ ID NOs: 411-416 are cellulose binding peptides, SEQ ID NO: 417 is a poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) binding peptide, SEQ ID NOs: 418-429 are poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) binding peptides, SEQ ID NOs: 430-435 are nylon binding peptides, and SEQ ID NOs: 436-444 are poly(tetrafluoro ethylene) (PTFE) binding peptides.

SEQ ID NO: 445 is the amino acid sequence of the Caspase-3 cleavage site that may be used as a cleavable peptide linker domain.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention describes a set of peptide tags (inclusion body tags) that may be coupled with a peptide of interest to form a fusion protein. The fusion protein, so assembled, is expressed in insoluble form and accumulated in inclusion bodies in the expressing host cell. The inclusion bodies may then be recovered and the desired protein cleaved from the inclusion body tag. In a preferred embodiment, the fusion protein comprises at least one cleavable peptide linker separating the inclusion body tag from the peptide of interest. In another preferred embodiment, the cleavable peptide linker comprises at least one acid cleavable aspartic acid—proline moiety.

The invention is useful for the expression and recovery of any bioactive peptides and proteins that are recombinantly expressed. Such proteins typically have high value in any number of applications including, but not limited to medical, biomedical, diagnostic, personal care, and affinity applications where the peptides of interest are used as linkers to various surfaces.

The following definitions are used herein and should be referred to for interpretation of the claims and the specification. Unless otherwise noted, all U.S. patents and U.S. patent applications referenced herein are incorporated by reference in their entirety.

As used herein, the term “comprising” means the presence of the stated features, integers, steps, or components as referred to in the claims, but that it does not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, components or groups thereof.

The term “invention” or “present invention” as used herein is a non-limiting term and is not intended to refer to any single embodiment of the particular invention but encompasses all possible embodiments as described in the specification and the claims.

“Open reading frame” is abbreviated ORF.

“Polymerase chain reaction” is abbreviated PCR.

As used herein, the term “isolated nucleic acid molecule” is a polymer of RNA or DNA that is single- or double-stranded, optionally containing synthetic, non-natural or altered nucleotide bases. An isolated nucleic acid molecule in the form of a polymer of DNA may be comprised of one or more segments of cDNA, genomic DNA or synthetic DNA.

As used herein, the term “hair” as used herein refers to human hair, eyebrows, and eyelashes.

As used herein, the term “skin” as used herein refers to human skin, or substitutes for human skin, such as pig skin, Vitro-Skin® and EpiDerm™. Skin, as used herein, will refer to a body surface generally comprising a layer of epithelial cells and may additionally comprise a layer of endothelial cells.

As used herein, the term “nails” as used herein refers to human fingernails and toenails and other body surfaces comprised primarily of keratin.

As used herein, the term “pigment” refers to an insoluble, organic or inorganic colorant.

As used herein, “HBP” means hair-binding peptide. Examples of hair binding peptides have been reported (U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/074,473 to Huang et al.; WO 0179479; U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2002/0098524 to Murray et al.; Janssen et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2003/0152976 to Janssen et al.; WO 04048399; U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/721,329, and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/790,149).

As used herein, “SBP” means skin-binding peptide. Examples of skin binding peptides have also been reported (U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/069,858 to Buseman-Williams; Rothe et. al., WO 2004/000257; and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/790,149).

As used herein, “NBP” means nail-binding peptide. Examples of nail binding peptides have been reported (U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/790,149).

As used herein, an “antimicrobial peptide” is a peptide having the ability to kill microbial cell populations (U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/790,149).

As used herein, the terms “zein 27 kDa storage protein”, “zein protein”, “gamma zein protein”, and “opaque2 protein” will refer to the Zea mays protein having the amino acid sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO:2 (GenBank® Accession No. AAP32017). The coding region encoding the zein protein having GenBank® Accession No. AAP32017 is provided as SEQ ID NO: 1.

As used herein, the term “inclusion body tag” will be abbreviated “IBT” and will refer a polypeptide that facilitates/stimulates formation of inclusion bodies when fused to a peptide of interest. The peptide of interest is typically soluble within the host cell and/or host cell lysate when not fused to an inclusion body tag. Fusion of the peptide of interest to the inclusion body tag produces an insoluble fusion protein that typically agglomerates into intracellular bodies (inclusion bodies) within the host cell. In one embodiment, the fusion protein comprises at least one portion comprising an inclusion body tag and at least one portion comprising the polypeptide of interest. In one embodiment, the protein/polypeptides of interest are separated from the inclusion body tags using cleavable peptide linker elements.

As used herein, “T7 translational enhancer element” means the N-terminal coding sequence of bacteriophage T7 gene 10 (Rosenberg, A H et al., Gene 56:125-135 (1987)), which provides a standardized sequence at the critical translation initiation site in the genes encoding IBT-180 and IBT-181.

As used herein, “cleavable linker elements”, “peptide linkers”, and “cleavable peptide linkers” will be used interchangeably and refer to cleavable peptide segments typically found between inclusion body tags and the peptide of interest. After the inclusion bodies are separated and/or partially-purified or purified from the cell lysate, the cleavable linker elements can be cleaved chemically and/or enzymatically to separate the inclusion body tag from the peptide of interest. The peptide of interest can then be isolated from the inclusion body tag, if necessary. In one embodiment, the inclusion body tag(s) and the peptide of interest exhibit different solubilities in a defined medium (typically an aqueous medium), facilitating separation of the inclusion body tag from the protein/polypeptide of interest. In a preferred embodiment, the inclusion body tag is insoluble in an aqueous solution while the protein/polypeptide of interest is appreciably soluble in an aqueous solution. The pH, temperature, and/or ionic strength of the aqueous solution can be adjusted to facilitate recovery of the peptide of interest. In a preferred embodiment, the differential solubility between the inclusion body tag and the peptide of interest occurs in an aqueous solution having a pH of 5 to 10 and a temperature range of 15 to 50° C. The cleavable peptide linker may be from 1 to about 50 amino acids, preferably from 1 to about 20 amino acids in length. An example of a cleavable peptide linker is provided by SEQ ID NO: 445 (Caspase-3 cleavage sequence). The cleavable peptide linkers may be incorporated into the fusion proteins using any number of techniques well known in the art.

As used herein, the term “dispersant” as used herein refers to a substance that stabilizes the formation of a colloidal solution of solid pigment particles in a liquid medium. As used herein, the term “triblock dispersant” to a pigment dispersant that consists of three different units or blocks, each serving a specific function. In the present examples, a synthetic peptide encoding a peptide-based triblock dispersant was used as the “peptide of interest” to evaluate the performance of the present inclusion body tags (U.S. Ser. No. 10/935,254).

As used herein, the term “operably linked” refers to the association of nucleic acid sequences on a single nucleic acid fragment so that the function of one is affected by the other. For example, a promoter is operably linked with a coding sequence when it is capable of effecting the expression of that coding sequence (i.e., that the coding sequence is under the transcriptional control of the promoter). In a further embodiment, the definition of “operably linked” may also be extended to describe the products of chimeric genes, such as fusion proteins. As such, “operably linked” will also refer to the linking of an inclusion body tag to a peptide of interest to be produced and recovered. The inclusion body tag is “operably linked” to the peptide of interest if upon expression the fusion protein is insoluble and accumulates it inclusion bodies in the expressing host cell. In a preferred embodiment, the fusion peptide will include at least one cleavable peptide linker useful in separating the inclusion body tag from the peptide of interest. In a further preferred embodiment, the cleavable linker is an acid cleavable aspartic acid—proline dipeptide (D-P) moiety (see INK101DP; SEQ ID NO: 20). The cleavable peptide linkers may be incorporated into the fusion proteins using any number of techniques well known in the art.

As used herein, the terms “fusion protein”, “fusion peptide”, “chimeric protein”, and “chimeric peptide” will be used interchangeably and will refer to a polymer of amino acids (peptide, oligopeptide, polypeptide, or protein) comprising at least two portions, each portion comprising a distinct function. One portion of the fusion peptide will comprise at least one of the present inclusion body tags. The second portion comprises at least one peptide of interest. In a preferred embodiment, the fusion protein additionally includes at least one cleavable peptide linker that facilitates cleavage (chemical and/or enzymatic) and separation of the inclusion body tag(s) and the peptide(s) of interest.

Means to prepare the present peptides (inclusion body tags, cleavable peptide linkers, peptides of interest, and fusion peptides) are well known in the art (see, for example, Stewart et al., Solid Phase Peptide Synthesis, Pierce Chemical Co., Rockford, Ill., 1984; Bodanszky, Principles of Peptide Synthesis, Springer-Verlag, N.Y., 1984; and Pennington et al., Peptide Synthesis Protocols, Humana Press, Totowa, N.J., 1994). The various components of the fusion peptides (inclusion body tag, peptide of interest, and the cleavable linker) described herein can be combined using carbodiimide coupling agents (see for example, Hermanson, Greg T., Bioconjugate Techniques, Academic Press, New York (1996)), diacid chlorides, diisocyanates and other difunctional coupling reagents that are reactive to terminal amine and/or carboxylic acid groups on the peptides. However, chemical synthesis is often limited to peptides of less than about 50 amino acids length due to cost and/or impurities. In a preferred alternative embodiment, the entire peptide reagent may be prepared using the recombinant DNA and molecular cloning techniques.

As used herein, the terms “polypeptide” and “peptide” will be used interchangeably to refer to a polymer of two or more amino acids joined together by a peptide bond, wherein the peptide is of unspecified length, thus, peptides, oligopeptides, polypeptides, and proteins are included within the present definition. In one aspect, this term also includes post expression modifications of the polypeptide, for example, glycosylations, acetylations, phosphorylations and the like. Included within the definition are, for example, peptides containing one or more analogues of an amino acid or labeled amino acids and peptidomimetics.

As used herein, the terms “protein of interest”, “polypeptide of interest”, “peptide of interest”, “targeted protein”, “targeted polypeptide”, “targeted peptide”, “expressible protein”, and “expressible polypeptide” will be used interchangeably and refer to a protein, polypeptide, or peptide that is bioactive and may be expressed by the genetic machinery of a host cell.

As used herein, the terms “bioactive” and “peptide of interest activity” are used interchangeably and refer to the activity or characteristic associated with the peptide and/or protein of interest. The bioactive peptides may be used in a variety of applications including, but not limited to curative agents for diseases (e.g., insulin, interferon, interleukins, anti-angiogenic peptides (U.S. Pat. No. 6,815,426), and polypeptides that bind to defined cellular targets such as receptors, channels, lipids, cytosolic proteins, and membrane proteins, to name a few), peptides having antimicrobial activity, peptides having an affinity for a particular material (e.g., hair binding polypeptides, skin binding polypeptides, nail binding polypeptides, cellulose binding polypeptides, polymer binding polypeptides, clay binding polypeptides, silicon binding polypeptides, carbon nanotube binding polypeptides, and peptides that have an affinity for particular animal or plant tissues) for targeted delivery of benefit agents.

As used herein, the “benefit agent” refers to a molecule that imparts a desired functionality to the complex for a defined application. The benefit agent may be peptide of interest itself or may be one or more molecules bound to (covalently or non-covalently), or associated with, the peptide of interest wherein the binding affinity of the targeted polypeptide is used to selectively target the benefit agent to the targeted material. In another embodiment, the targeted polypeptide comprises at least one region having an affinity for at least one target material (e.g., biological molecules, polymers, hair, skin, nail, other peptides, etc.) and at least one region having an affinity for the benefit agent (e.g., pharmaceutical agents, pigments, conditioners, dyes, fragrances, etc.). In another embodiment, the peptide of interest comprises a plurality of regions having an affinity for the target material and a plurality of regions having an affinity for the benefit agent. In yet another embodiment, the peptide of interest comprises at least one region having an affinity for a targeted material and a plurality of regions having an affinity for a variety of benefit agents wherein the benefit agents may be the same of different. Examples of benefits agents may include, but are not limited to conditioners for personal care products, pigments, dye, fragrances, pharmaceutical agents (e.g., targeted delivery of cancer treatment agents), diagnostic/labeling agents, ultraviolet light blocking agents (i.e., active agents in sunscreen protectants), and antimicrobial agents (e.g., antimicrobial peptides), to name a few.

As used herein, an “inclusion body” is an intracellular amorphous deposit comprising aggregated protein found in the cytoplasm of a cell. Peptides of interest that are typically soluble with the host cell and/or cell lysates can be fused to one or more of the present inclusion body tags to facilitate formation of an insoluble fusion protein. In an alternative embodiment, the peptide of interest may be partially insoluble in the host cell, but produced at relatively lows levels where significant inclusion body formation does not occur. As such, the formation of inclusion bodies will increase protein. In a further embodiment, fusion of the peptide of interest to one or more inclusion body tags (IBTs) increases the amount of protein produced in the host cell. Formation of the inclusion body facilitates simple and efficient purification of the fusion peptide from the cell lysate using techniques well known in the art such as centrifugation and filtration. The fusion protein typically includes one or more cleavable peptide linkers used to separate the protein/polypeptide of interest from the inclusion body tag(s). The cleavable peptide linker is designed so that the inclusion body tag(s) and the protein/polypeptide(s) of interest can be easily separated by cleaving the linker element. The peptide linker can be cleaved chemically (e.g., acid hydrolysis) or enzymatically (i.e., use of a protease/peptidase that preferentially recognizes an amino acid cleavage site and/or sequence within the cleavable peptide linker).

“Codon degeneracy” refers to the nature in the genetic code permitting variation of the nucleotide sequence without affecting the amino acid sequence of an encoded polypeptide. Accordingly, the instant invention relates to any nucleic acid fragment that encodes the present amino acid sequences. The skilled artisan is well aware of the “codon-bias” exhibited by a specific host cell in usage of nucleotide codons to specify a given amino acid. Therefore, when synthesizing a gene for improved expression in a host cell, it is desirable to design the gene such that its frequency of codon usage approaches the frequency of preferred codon usage of the host cell.

As used herein, the term “solubility” refers to the amount of a substance that can be dissolved in a unit volume of a liquid under specified conditions. In the present application, the term “solubility” is used to describe the ability of a peptide (inclusion body tag, peptide of interest, or fusion peptides) to be resuspended in a volume of solvent, such as a biological buffer. In one embodiment, the peptides targeted for production (“peptides of interest”) are normally soluble in the cell and/or cell lysate under normal physiological conditions. Fusion of one or more inclusion body tags (IBTs) to the target peptide results in the formation of a fusion peptide that is insoluble under normal physiological conditions, resulting in the formation of inclusion bodies. In one embodiment, the peptide of interest is insoluble in an aqueous matrix having a pH range of 5-12, preferably 6-10; and a temperature range of 5° C. to 5° C., preferably 10° C. to 40° C. Fusion of the peptide of interest to at least one of the present inclusion body tags results in the formation of an insoluble fusion protein that agglomerates into at least one inclusion body under normal physiological conditions.

The term “amino acid” refers to the basic chemical structural unit of a protein or polypeptide. The following abbreviations are used herein to identify specific amino acids:

Three-Letter One-Letter Amino Acid Abbreviation Abbreviation Alanine Ala A Arginine Arg R Asparagine Asn N Aspartic acid Asp D Cysteine Cys C Glutamine Gln Q Glutamic acid Glu E Glycine Gly G Histidine His H Isoleucine Ile I Leucine Leu L Lysine Lys K Methionine Met M Phenylalanine Phe F Proline Pro P Serine Ser S Threonine Thr T Tryptophan Trp W Tyrosine Tyr Y Valine Val V Miscellaneous (as Xaa X defined by the present formulas)

“Gene” refers to a nucleic acid fragment that expresses a specific protein, including regulatory sequences preceding (5′ non-coding sequences) and following (3′ non-coding sequences) the coding sequence. “Native gene” refers to a gene as found in nature with its own regulatory sequences “Chimeric gene” refers to any gene that is not a native gene, comprising regulatory and coding sequences (including coding regions engineered to encode fusion peptides) that are not found together in nature. Accordingly, a chimeric gene may comprise regulatory sequences and coding sequences that are derived from different sources, or regulatory sequences and coding sequences derived from the same source, but arranged in a manner different than that found in nature. A “foreign” gene refers to a gene not normally found in the host organism, but that is introduced into the host organism by gene transfer. Foreign genes can comprise native genes inserted into a non-native organism, or chimeric genes.

As used herein, the term “coding sequence” refers to a DNA sequence that encodes for a specific amino acid sequence. “Suitable regulatory sequences” refer to nucleotide sequences located upstream (5′ non-coding sequences), within, or downstream (3′ non-coding sequences) of a coding sequence, and which influence the transcription, RNA processing or stability, or translation of the associated coding sequence. Regulatory sequences may include promoters, enhancers, ribosomal binding sites, translation leader sequences, introns, polyadenylation recognition sequences, RNA processing site, effector binding site and stem-loop structures. One of skill in the art recognizes that selection of suitable regulatory sequences will depend upon host cell and/or expression system used.

As used herein, the term “genetic construct” refers to a series of contiguous nucleic acids useful for modulating the genotype or phenotype of an organism. Non-limiting examples of genetic constructs include but are not limited to a nucleic acid molecule, an open reading frame, a gene, a plasmid, and the like.

As used herein, the term “expression ranking” means the relative yield of insoluble fusion protein estimated visually and scored on a relative scale of 0 (no insoluble fusion peptide) to 3 (highest yield of insoluble fusion peptide). As described in the present examples, the relative yield of insoluble fusion protein was estimated visually from stained polyacrylamide gels.

As used herein, the term “transformation” refers to the transfer of a nucleic acid fragment into the genome of a host organism, resulting in genetically stable inheritance. As used herein, the host cell's genome is comprised of chromosomal and extrachromosomal (e.g., plasmid) genes. Host organisms containing the transformed nucleic acid fragments are referred to as “transgenic” or “recombinant” or “transformed” organisms.

As used herein, the term “host cell” refers to cell which has been transformed or transfected, or is capable of transformation or transfection by an exogenous polynucleotide sequence.

As used herein, the terms “plasmid”, “vector” and “cassette” refer to an extrachromosomal element often carrying genes which are not part of the central metabolism of the cell, and usually in the form of circular double-stranded DNA molecules. Such elements may be autonomously replicating sequences, genome integrating sequences, phage or nucleotide sequences, linear or circular, of a single- or double-stranded DNA or RNA, derived from any source, in which a number of nucleotide sequences have been joined or recombined into a unique construction which is capable of introducing a promoter fragment and DNA sequence for a selected gene product along with appropriate 3′ untranslated sequence into a cell. “Transformation cassette” refers to a specific vector containing a foreign gene and having elements in addition to the foreign gene that facilitates transformation of a particular host cell. “Expression cassette” refers to a specific vector containing a foreign gene and having elements in addition to the foreign gene that allow for enhanced expression of that gene in a foreign host.

Standard recombinant DNA and molecular cloning techniques used herein are well known in the art and are described by Sambrook, J., Fritsch, E. F. and Maniatis, T., Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual, Third Edition, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y. (2001) (hereinafter “Maniatis”); and by Silhavy, T. J., Bennan, M. L. and Enquist, L. W., Experiments with Gene Fusions, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Cold Press Spring Harbor, N.Y. (1984); and by Ausubel, F. M. et al., Current Protocols in Molecular Biology, published by Greene Publishing Assoc. and Wiley-Interscience (1987).

Inclusion Body Tags

The inclusion body tags of the invention were derived from the gamma zein 27kDA storage protein (GenBank® accession No. AAP32017; SEQ ID NO: 2). This protein was selected as the starting material for preparation of a library of putative inclusion body tags. Several overlapping series of approximately 15 amino acid long peptides (one was 13 amino acids in length) were prepared and evaluated as potential inclusion body tags. The library was prepared by synthesizing and fusing short peptides identical to various portions of the zein protein to a soluble peptide of interest (the modified TBP101 peptide). Expression analysis identified a central region of the zein protein (amino acid residues 76 through 175 of SEQ ID NO: 2) suitable for the preparation of the present inclusion body tags. Short (15 or more contiguous amino acids) inclusion body tags prepared from this region were able to induce inclusion body formation (i.e. form insoluble fusion peptides) when fused to a peptide of interest (typically soluble).

Each of the present fusion tags was fused to a standard peptide of interest (a modified version of TBP101 incorporating an acid cleavable aspartic acid—proline moiety useful in separating the peptide of interest from the inclusion body tag; see Example 1). TBP101 (when not linked to an inclusion body tag) is soluble in the present test system. Each constructed was recombinantly expressed in an appropriate host cell and evaluated for insoluble fusion peptide formation.

The present inclusion body tags are peptides comprising at least 15 contiguous amino acid from amino acid residues 76 to 175 of SEQ ID NO: 2 with the proviso that the inclusion body tag is not equal to SEQ ID NO: 2 or any other full length zein protein. In one embodiment, the inclusion body tags may comprise additional amino acid residues flanking the present peptide sequences so long as the ability to form insoluble fusion peptides in not adversely affected with the proviso that the amino acid sequence of the inclusion body tag is not identical to SEQ ID NO: 2. In another embodiment, portion of the fusion protein comprising the inclusion body tag of the present invention is 15 to no more than 100 amino acid residues in length, preferably 15 to 50 amino acids in length, more preferably 15 to 25 amino acids in length, and most preferably about 15 amino acids in length.

In one embodiment, the present inclusion body tags are selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 116, 117, 119, 121, 131, 132, 133, 135, 145, 147, 148, 149, 150, 154, 155, 247, and 248.

Inclusion body tags IBT-180 and IBT-181 each include a T7 translational enhancer element (SEQ ID NO: 246) fused to the amino terminal portion of an inclusion body tag derived the zein protein. In one aspect, any of the present inclusion body tags may optionally include the T7 translational enhancer as represented by SEQ ID NO: 246 fused to the amino terminus of an inclusion body tag comprising at least 15 contiguous amino acids from amino acid residues 76 to 175 of SEQ ID NO: 2.

In another aspect, the present invention also includes fusion peptides comprising at least one of the present inclusion body tags fused to at least one peptide of interest. In a preferred embodiment, the fusion peptide includes at least one cleavable peptide linker useful in separating the peptide of interest from the inclusion body tag(s). The cleavable peptide linker can be an enzymatic cleavage sequence or a chemically cleavable sequence. In another preferred embodiment, the cleavable peptide linker comprises at least one acid cleavable aspartic acid—proline moiety (for example, see the INK101DP peptide; SEQ ID NO: 20).

Expressible Peptides of Interest

The peptide of interest (“expressible peptide”) targeted for production using the present method is one that is appreciably soluble in the host cell and/or host cell liquid lysate under normal physiological conditions. In a preferred aspect, the peptides of interest are generally short (<50 amino acids in length) and difficult to produce in sufficient amounts due to proteolytic degradation. Fusion of the peptide of interest to at least one of the present inclusion body forming tags creates a fusion peptide that is insoluble in the host cell and/or host cell lysate under normal physiological conditions. Production of the peptide of interest is typically increased when expressed and accumulated in the form of an insoluble inclusion body as the peptide is generally more protected from proteolytic degradation. Furthermore, the insoluble fusion protein can be easily separated from the host cell lysate using centrifugation or filtration.

In general, the present inclusion body tags can be used in a process to produce any peptide of interest that is (1) typically soluble in the cell and/or cell lysate under typical physiological conditions and/or (2) those that can be produced at significantly higher levels when expressed in the form of an inclusion body. In a preferred embodiment, the peptide of interest is appreciably soluble in the host cell and/or corresponding cell lysate under normal physiological and/or process conditions.

The length of the peptide of interest may vary as long as (1) the peptide is appreciably soluble in the host cell and/or cell lysate, and/or (2) the amount of the targeted peptide produced is significantly increased when expressed in the form of an insoluble fusion peptide/inclusion body (i.e. expression in the form of a fusion protein protect the peptide of interest from proteolytic degradation). Typically the peptide of interest is less than 200 amino acids in length, preferably less than 100 amino acids in length, more preferably less than 75 amino acids in length, even more preferably less than 50 amino acids in length, and most preferably less than 25 amino acids in length.

The function of the peptide of interest is not limited by the present method and may include, but is not limited to bioactive molecules such as curative agents for diseases (e.g., insulin, interferon, interleukins, peptide hormones, anti-angiogenic peptides, and peptides that bind to and affect defined cellular targets such as receptors, channels, lipids, cytosolic proteins, and membrane proteins; see U.S. Pat. No. 6,696,089,), peptides having an affinity for a particular material (e.g., biological tissues, biological molecules, hair binding peptides (U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/074,473; WO 0179479; U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2002/0098524; U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2003/0152976; WO 04048399; U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/721,329; and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/790,149), skin binding peptides (U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/069,858; WO 2004/000257; and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/790,149), nail binding peptides (U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/790,149), cellulose binding peptides, polymer binding peptides (U.S. Provision Patent Application Nos. 60/750,598, 60/750,599, 60/750,726, 60/750,748, and 60/750,850), clay binding peptides, silicon binding peptides, and carbon nanotube binding peptides) for targeted delivery of at least one benefit agent (see U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/935,642; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/074,473; and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/790,149).

In a preferred aspect, the peptide of interest is selected from the group of hair binding peptides (U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/074,473; WO 0179479; U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2002/0098524; Janssen et al., U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2003/0152976; WO 04048399; U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/721,329; and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/790,149), skin binding peptides (U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/069,858; WO 2004/000257; and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/790,149), nail binding peptides (U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/790,149), antimicrobial peptides (U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/790,149), and polymer binding peptides (U.S. Provision Patent Application Nos. 60/750,598, 60/750,599, 60/750,726, 60/750,748, and 60/750,850). In another preferred aspect, the hair binding peptide is selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs: (261-353); the skin binding peptide is selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs: (253-260); the nail binding peptide is selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs: (354-355); the antimicrobial peptide is selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs: (356-384); and the polymer binding peptide is selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs: (411-444).

As used herein, the “benefit agent” refers to a molecule that imparts a desired functionality to a target material (e.g., hair, skin, etc.) for a defined application (U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/935,642; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/074,473; and U.S. Patent Application 60/790,149 for a list of typical benefit agents such as conditioners, pigments/colorants, fragrances, etc.). The benefit agent may be the peptide of interest itself or may be one or more molecules bound to (covalently or non-covalently), or associated with, the peptide of interest wherein the binding affinity of the peptide of interest is used to selectively target the benefit agent to the targeted material. In another embodiment, the peptide of interest comprises at least one region having an affinity for at least one target material (e.g., biological molecules, polymers, hair, skin, nail, other peptides, etc.) and at least one region having an affinity for the benefit agent (e.g., pharmaceutical agents, antimicrobial agents, pigments, conditioners, dyes, fragrances, etc.). In another embodiment, the peptide of interest comprises a plurality of regions having an affinity for the target material and a plurality of regions having an affinity for one or more benefit agents. In yet another embodiment, the peptide of interest comprises at least one region having an affinity for a targeted material and a plurality of regions having an affinity for a variety of benefit agents wherein the benefit agents may be the same of different. Examples of benefits agents may include, but are not limited to conditioners for personal care products, pigments, dye, fragrances, pharmaceutical agents (e.g., targeted delivery of cancer treatment agents), diagnostic/labeling agents, ultraviolet light blocking agents (i.e., active agents in sunscreen protectants), and antimicrobial agents (e.g., antimicrobial peptides), to name a few.

Cleavable Peptide Linkers

The use of cleavable peptide linkers is well known in the art. Fusion peptides comprising the present inclusion body tags will typically include at least one cleavable sequence separating the inclusion body tag from the polypeptide of interest. The cleavable sequence facilitates separation of the inclusion body tag(s) from the peptide(s) of interest. In one embodiment, the cleavable sequence may be provided by a portion of the inclusion body tag and/or the peptide of interest (e.g., inclusion of an acid cleavable aspartic acid—proline moiety; see INK101 DP (SEQ ID NO: 20)). In a preferred embodiment, the cleavable sequence is provided by including (in the fusion peptide) at least one cleavable peptide linker between the inclusion body tag and the peptide of interest.

Means to cleave the peptide linkers are well known in the art and may include chemical hydrolysis, enzymatic cleavage agents, and combinations thereof. In one embodiment, one or more chemically cleavable peptide linkers are included in the fusion construct to facilitate recovery of the peptide of interest from the inclusion body fusion protein. Examples of chemical cleavage reagents include cyanogen bromide (cleaves methionine residues), N-chloro succinimide, iodobenzoic acid or BNPS-skatole [2-(2-nitrophenylsulfenyl)-3-methylindole] (cleaves tryptophan residues), dilute acids (cleaves at aspartyl-prolyl bonds), and hydroxylamine (cleaves at asparagine-glycine bonds at pH 9.0); see Gavit, P. and Better, M., J. Biotechnol., 79:127-136 (2000); Szoka et al., DNA, 5(1):11-20 (1986); and Walker, J. M., The Proteomics Protocols Handbook, 2005, Humana Press, Totowa, N.J.)). In a preferred embodiment, one or more aspartic acid—proline acid cleavable recognition sites (i.e., a cleavable peptide linker comprising one or more D-P dipeptide moieties) are included in the fusion protein construct to facilitate separation of the inclusion body tag(s) form the peptide of interest. In another embodiment, the fusion peptide may include multiple regions encoding peptides of interest separated by one or more cleavable peptide linkers.

In another embodiment, one or more enzymatic cleavage sequences are included in the fusion protein construct to facilitate recovery of the peptide of interest. Proteolytic enzymes and their respective cleavage site specificities are well known in the art. In a preferred embodiment, the proteolytic enzyme is selected to specifically cleave only the peptide linker separating the inclusion body tag and the peptide of interest. Examples of enzymes useful for cleaving the peptide linker include, but are not limited to Arg-C proteinase, Asp-N endopeptidase, chymotrypsin, clostripain, enterokinase, Factor Xa, glutamyl endopeptidase, Granzyme B, Achromobacter proteinase I, pepsin, proline endopeptidase, proteinase K, Staphylococcal peptidase I, thermolysin, thrombin, trypsin, and members of the Caspase family of proteolytic enzymes (e.g. Caspases 1-10) (Walker, J. M., supra). An example of a cleavage site sequence is provided by SEQ ID NO: 445 (Caspase-3 cleavage site; Thornberry et al., J. Biol. Chem., 272:17907-17911 (1997) and Tyas et al., EMBO Reports, 1 (3):266-270 (2000)).

Typically, the cleavage step occurs after the insoluble inclusion bodies and/or insoluble fusion peptides are isolated from the cell lysate. The cells can be lysed using any number of means well known in the art (e.g. mechanical and/or chemical lysis). Methods to isolate the insoluble inclusion bodies/fusion peptides from the cell lysate are well known in the art (e.g., centrifugation, filtration, and combinations thereof). Once recovered from the cell lysate, the insoluble inclusion bodies and/or fusion peptides can be treated with a cleavage agent (chemical or enzymatic) to cleavage the inclusion body tag from the peptide of interest. In one embodiment, the fusion protein and/or inclusion body is diluted and/or dissolved in a suitable solvent prior to treatment with the cleavage agent. In a further embodiment, the cleavage step may be omitted if the inclusion body tag does not interfere with the activity of the peptide of interest.

After the cleavage step, and in a preferred embodiment, the peptide of interest can be separated and/or isolated from the fusion protein and the inclusion body tags based on a differential solubility of the components. Parameters such as pH, salt concentration, and temperature may be adjusted to facilitate separation of the inclusion body tag from the peptide of interest. In one embodiment, the peptide of interest is soluble while the inclusion body tag and/or fusion protein is insoluble in the defined process matrix (typically an aqueous matrix). In another embodiment, the peptide of interest is insoluble while the inclusion body tag is soluble in the defined process matrix.

In an alternate embodiment, the peptide of interest may be further purified using any number of well known purification techniques in the art such as ion exchange, gel purification techniques, and column chromatography (see U.S. Pat. No. 5,648,244), to name a few.

Fusion Peptides

The present inclusion body tags are used to create chimeric polypeptides (“fusion peptides” or “fusion proteins”) that are insoluble within the host cell, forming inclusion bodies. Synthesis and expression of expressible genetic constructs encoding the present fusion peptides is well known to one of skill in the art given the present inclusion body tags.

The present fusion peptides will include at least one of the present inclusion body tags (IBTs) operably linked to at least one peptide of interest. Typically, the fusion peptides will also include at least one cleavable peptide linker having a cleavage site between the inclusion body tag and the peptide of interest. In one embodiment, the inclusion body tag may include a cleavage site whereby inclusion of a separate cleavable peptide linker may not be necessary. In a preferred embodiment, the cleavage method is chosen to ensure that the peptide of interest is not adversely affected by the cleavage agent(s) employed. In a further embodiment, the peptide of interest may be modified to eliminate possible cleavage sites with the peptide so long as the desired activity of the peptide is not adversely affected.

One of skill in the art will recognize that the elements of the fusion protein can be structured in a variety of ways. Typically, the fusion protein will include at least one IBT, at least one peptide of interest (POI), and at least one cleavable linker (CL) located between the IBT and the POI. The inclusion body tag may be organized as a leader sequence or a terminator sequence relative to the position of the peptide of interest within the fusion peptide. In another embodiment, a plurality of IBTs, POIs, and CLs are used when engineering the fusion peptide. In a further embodiment, the fusion peptide may include a plurality of IBTs (as defined herein), POIs, and CLs that are the same or different.

The fusion peptide should be insoluble in an aqueous matrix at a temperature of 10° C. to 50° C., preferably 10° C. to 40° C. The aqueous matrix typically comprises a pH range of 5 to 12, preferably 6 to 10, and most preferably 6 to 8. The temperature, pH, and/or ionic strength of the aqueous matrix can be adjusted to obtain the desired solubility characteristics of the fusion peptide/inclusion body.

Method to Make a Peptide of Interest Using Insoluble Fusion Peptides

The present inclusion body tags are used to make fusion peptides that form inclusion bodies within the production host. This method is particularly attractive for producing significant amounts of soluble peptide of interest that (1) are difficult to isolation from other soluble components of the cell lysate and/or (2) are difficult to product in significant amounts within the target production host.

In the present methods, a peptide of interest is fused to at least one of the present inclusion body tags, forming an insoluble fusion protein. Expression of the genetic construct encoding the fusion protein produces an insoluble form of the peptide of interest that accumulates in the form of inclusion bodies within the host cell. The host cell is grown for a period of time sufficient for the insoluble fusion peptide to accumulate within the cell.

The host cell is subsequently lysed using any number of techniques well known in the art. The insoluble fusion peptide/inclusion bodies are then separated from the soluble components of the cell lysate using a simple and economical technique such as centrifugation and/or membrane filtration. The insoluble fusion peptide/inclusion body can then be further processed in order to isolate the peptide of interest. Typically, this will include resuspension of the fusion peptide/inclusion body in a liquid matrix suitable for cleaving the fusion peptide, separating the inclusion body tag from the peptide of interest. The fusion protein is typically designed to include a cleavable peptide linker separating the inclusion body tag from the peptide of interest. The cleavage step can be conducted using any number of techniques well known in the art (chemical cleavage, enzymatic cleavage, and combinations thereof). The peptide of interest can then be separated from the inclusion body tag(s) and/or fusion peptides using any number of techniques well known in the art (centrifugation, filtration, precipitation, column chromatography, etc.). Preferably, the peptide of interest (once cleaved from fusion peptide) has a solubility that is significantly different than that of the inclusion body tag and/or remaining fusion peptide.

Transformation and Expression

Once the inclusion body tag has been identified and paired with the appropriate peptide of interest, construction of cassettes and vectors that may be transformed in to an appropriate expression host is common and well known in the art. Typically, the vector or cassette contains sequences directing transcription and translation of the relevant chimeric gene, a selectable marker, and sequences allowing autonomous replication or chromosomal integration. Suitable vectors comprise a region 5′ of the gene which harbors transcriptional initiation controls and a region 3′ of the DNA fragment which controls transcriptional termination. It is most preferred when both control regions are derived from genes homologous to the transformed host cell, although it is to be understood that such control regions need not be derived from the genes native to the specific species chosen as a production host.

Initiation control regions or promoters, which are useful to drive expression of the genetic constructs encoding the fusion peptides in the desired host cell, are numerous and familiar to those skilled in the art. Virtually any promoter capable of driving these constructs is suitable for the present invention including but not limited to CYC1, HIS3, GAL1, GAL10, ADH1, PGK, PHO5, GAPDH, ADC1, TRP1, URA3, LEU2, ENO, TPI (useful for expression in Saccharomyces); AOX1 (useful for expression in Pichia); and lac, ara (pBAD), tet, trp, IP_(L), IP_(R), T7, tac, and trc (useful for expression in Escherichia coli) as well as the amy, apr, npr promoters and various phage promoters useful for expression in Bacillus.

Termination control regions may also be derived from various genes native to the preferred hosts. Optionally, a termination site may be unnecessary, however, it is most preferred if included.

Preferred host cells for expression of the present fusion peptides are microbial hosts that can be found broadly within the fungal or bacterial families and which grow over a wide range of temperature, pH values, and solvent tolerances. For example, it is contemplated that any of bacteria, yeast, and filamentous fungi will be suitable hosts for expression of the present nucleic acid molecules encoding the fusion peptides. Because of transcription, translation, and the protein biosynthetic apparatus is the same irrespective of the cellular feedstock, genes are expressed irrespective of the carbon feedstock used to generate the cellular biomass. Large-scale microbial growth and functional gene expression may utilize a wide range of simple or complex carbohydrates, organic acids and alcohols (i.e. methanol), saturated hydrocarbons such as methane or carbon dioxide in the case of photosynthetic or chemoautotrophic hosts. However, the functional genes may be regulated, repressed or depressed by specific growth conditions, which may include the form and amount of nitrogen, phosphorous, sulfur, oxygen, carbon or any trace micronutrient including small inorganic ions. In addition, the regulation of functional genes may be achieved by the presence or absence of specific regulatory molecules that are added to the culture and are not typically considered nutrient or energy sources. Growth rate may also be an important regulatory factor in gene expression. Examples of host strains include, but are not limited to fungal or yeast species such as Aspergillus, Trichoderma, Saccharomyces, Pichia, Candida, Hansenula, or bacterial species such as Salmonella, Bacillus, Acinetobacter, Zymomonas, Agrobacterium, Erythrobacter, Chlorobium, Chromatium, Flavobacterium, Cytophaga, Rhodobacter, Rhodococcus, Streptomyces, Brevibacterium, Corynebacteria, Mycobacterium, Deinococcus, Escherichia, Erwinia, Pantoea, Pseudomonas, Sphingomonas, Methylomonas, Methylobacter, Methylococcus, Methylosinus, Methylomicrobium, Methylocystis, Alcaligenes, Synechocystis, Synechococcus, Anabaena, Thiobacillus, Methanobacterium, Klebsiella, and Myxococcus. Preferred bacterial host strains include Escherichia and Bacillus. In a highly preferred aspect, the host strain is Escherichia coli.

Fermentation Media

Fermentation media in the present invention must contain suitable carbon substrates. Suitable substrates may include but are not limited to monosaccharides such as glucose and fructose, oligosaccharides such as lactose or sucrose, polysaccharides such as starch or cellulose or mixtures thereof and unpurified mixtures from renewable feedstocks such as cheese whey permeate, cornsteep liquor, sugar beet molasses, and barley malt. Additionally the carbon substrate may also be one-carbon substrates such as carbon dioxide, or methanol for which metabolic conversion into key biochemical intermediates has been demonstrated. In addition to one and two carbon substrates methylotrophic organisms are also known to utilize a number of other carbon containing compounds such as methylamine, glucosamine and a variety of amino acids for metabolic activity. For example, methylotrophic yeast are known to utilize the carbon from methylamine to form trehalose or glycerol (Bellion et al., Microb. Growth C1 Compd., [Int. Symp.], 7th (1993), 415-32. Editor(s): Murrell, J. Collin; Kelly, Don P. Publisher: Intercept, Andover, UK). Similarly, various species of Candida will metabolize alanine or oleic acid (Sulter et al., Arch. Microbiol. 153:485-489 (1990)). Hence it is contemplated that the source of carbon utilized in the present invention may encompass a wide variety of carbon containing substrates and will only be limited by the choice of organism.

Although it is contemplated that all of the above mentioned carbon substrates and mixtures thereof are suitable in the present invention, preferred carbon substrates are glucose, fructose, and sucrose.

In addition to an appropriate carbon source, fermentation media must contain suitable minerals, salts, cofactors, buffers and other components, known to those skilled in the art, suitable for the growth of the cultures and promotion of the expression of the present fusion peptides.

Culture Conditions

Suitable culture conditions can be selected dependent upon the chosen production host. Typically, cells are grown at a temperature in the range of about 25° C. to about 40° C. in an appropriate medium. Suitable growth media in the present invention are common commercially prepared media such as Luria Bertani (LB) broth, Sabouraud Dextrose (SD) broth or Yeast medium (YM) broth. Other defined or synthetic growth media may also be used and the appropriate medium for growth of the particular microorganism will be known by one skilled in the art of microbiology or fermentation science. The use of agents known to modulate catabolite repression directly or indirectly, e.g., cyclic adenosine 2′:3′-monophosphate, may also be incorporated into the fermentation medium.

Suitable pH ranges for the fermentation are typically between pH 5.0 to pH 9.0, where pH 6.0 to pH 8.0 is preferred.

Fermentations may be performed under aerobic or anaerobic conditions wherein aerobic conditions are preferred.

Industrial Batch and Continuous Fermentations

A classical batch fermentation is a closed system where the composition of the medium is set at the beginning of the fermentation and not subject to artificial alterations during the fermentation. Thus, at the beginning of the fermentation the medium is inoculated with the desired organism or organisms, and fermentation is permitted to occur without adding anything to the system. Typically, a “batch” fermentation is batch with respect to the addition of carbon source and attempts are often made at controlling factors such as pH and oxygen concentration. In batch systems the metabolite and biomass compositions of the system change constantly up to the time the fermentation is stopped. Within batch cultures cells moderate through a static lag phase to a high growth log phase and finally to a stationary phase where growth rate is diminished or halted. If untreated, cells in the stationary phase will eventually die. Cells in log phase generally are responsible for the bulk of production of end product or intermediate.

A variation on the standard batch system is the Fed-Batch system. Fed-Batch fermentation processes are also suitable in the present invention and comprise a typical batch system with the exception that the substrate is added in increments as the fermentation progresses. Fed-Batch systems are useful when catabolite repression is apt to inhibit the metabolism of the cells and where it is desirable to have limited amounts of substrate in the media. Measurement of the actual substrate concentration in Fed-Batch systems is difficult and is therefore estimated on the basis of the changes of measurable factors such as pH, dissolved oxygen and the partial pressure of waste gases such as CO₂. Batch and Fed-Batch fermentations are common and well known in the art and examples may be found in Thomas D. Brock in Biotechnology: A Textbook of Industrial Microbiology, Second Edition (1989) Sinauer Associates, Inc., Sunderland, Mass. (hereinafter “Brock”), or Deshpande, Mukund V., Appl. Biochem. Biotechnol., 36:227, (1992).

Although the present invention is performed in batch mode it is contemplated that the method would be adaptable to continuous fermentation methods. Continuous fermentation is an open system where a defined fermentation medium is added continuously to a bioreactor and an equal amount of conditioned media is removed simultaneously for processing. Continuous fermentation generally maintains the cultures at a constant high density where cells are primarily in log phase growth.

Continuous fermentation allows for the modulation of one factor or any number of factors that affect cell growth or end product concentration. For example, one method will maintain a limiting nutrient such as the carbon source or nitrogen level at a fixed rate and allow all other parameters to moderate. In other systems a number of factors affecting growth can be altered continuously while the cell concentration, measured by media turbidity, is kept constant. Continuous systems strive to maintain steady state growth conditions and thus the cell loss due to the medium being drawn off must be balanced against the cell growth rate in the fermentation. Methods of modulating nutrients and growth factors for continuous fermentation processes as well as techniques for maximizing the rate of product formation are well known in the art of industrial microbiology and a variety of methods are detailed by Brock, supra.

It is contemplated that the present invention may be practiced using either batch, fed-batch or continuous processes and that any known mode of fermentation would be suitable.

Applicants specifically incorporate the entire contents of all cited references in this disclosure. Further, when an amount, concentration, or other value or parameter is given either as a range, preferred range, or a list of upper preferable values and lower preferable values, this is to be understood as specifically disclosing all ranges formed from any pair of any upper range limit or preferred value and any lower range limit or preferred value, regardless of whether ranges are separately disclosed. Where a range of numerical values is recited herein, unless otherwise stated, the range is intended to include the endpoints thereof, and all integers and fractions within the range. It is not intended that the scope of the invention be limited to the specific values recited when defining a range.

EXAMPLES

The present invention is further defined in the following Examples. It should be understood that these Examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only. From the above discussion and these Examples, one skilled in the art can ascertain the essential characteristics of this invention, and without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, can make various changes and modifications of the invention to adapt it to various uses and conditions.

The meaning of abbreviations used is as follows: “min” means minute(s), “h” means hour(s), “μL” means microliter(s), “mL” means milliliter(s), “L” means liter(s), “nm” means nanometer(s), “mm” means millimeter(s), “cm” means centimeter(s), “μm” means micrometer(s), “mM” means millimolar, “M” means molar, “mmol” means millimole(s), “μmole” means micromole(s), “pmol” means picomole(s), “g” means gram(s), “μg” means microgram(s), “mg” means milligram(s), “g” means the gravitation constant, “rpm” means revolutions per minute, “DTT” means dithiothreitol, and “cat#” means catalog number.

General Methods:

Standard recombinant DNA and molecular cloning techniques used in the Examples are well known in the art and are described by Maniatis, (supra); Silhavy et al., (supra); and Ausubel et al., (supra).

Materials and methods suitable for the maintenance and growth of bacterial cultures are also well known in the art. Techniques suitable for use in the following Examples may be found in Manual of Methods for General Bacteriology, Phillipp Gerhardt, R. G. E. Murray, Ralph N. Costilow, Eugene W. Nester, Willis A. Wood, Noel R. Krieg and G. Briggs Phillips, eds., American Society for Microbiology, Washington, D.C., 1994, or in Brock (supra). All reagents, restriction enzymes and materials used for the growth and maintenance of bacterial cells were obtained from BD Diagnostic Systems (Sparks, Md.), Invitrogen (Carlsbad, Calif.), Life Technologies (Rockville, Md.), QIAGEN (Valencia, Calif.) or Sigma-Aldrich Chemical Company (St. Louis, Mo.), unless otherwise specified.

Example 1 Preparation of Plasmid pLX121 for Evaluating Inclusion Body Tag Performance

A genetic construct was prepared for evaluating the performance of the present inclusion body tags when fused to a soluble peptide of interest. The peptide of interest used in the present examples was prepared from a previously reported peptide-based triblock dispersant (U.S. Ser. No. 10/935,254).

Cloning of the TBP1 Gene

The TBP1 gene, encoding the TBP1 peptide, was selected for evaluation of the present inclusion body tags. The synthetic TBP1 peptide is peptide-based triblock dispersant comprising a carbon-black binding domain, a hydrophilic peptide linker, and a cellulose binding domain (see Example 15 of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/935,254, herein incorporated by reference).

The TBP1 gene (SEQ ID NO: 3) encoding the 68 amino acid peptide TBP101 (SEQ ID NO: 4) was assembled from synthetic oligonucleotides (Sigma-Genosys, Woodlands, Tex.; Table 1).

TABLE 1 Oligonucleotides Used to Prepare the TBP1 SEQ Oligonucleotide ID Name Nucleotide Sequence (5′-3′) NO: TBP1(+)1 GGATCCATCGAAGGTCGTTTCCACGAA 5 AACTGGCCGTCTGGTGGCGGTACCTC TACTTCCAAAGCTTCCACCACTACGAC TTCTAGCAAAACCACCACTACAT TBP1(+)2 CCTCTAAGACTACCACGACTACCTCCAA 6 AACCTCTACTACCTCTAGCTCCTCTACG GGCGGTGGCACTCACAAGACCTCTACTC AGCGTCTGCTGGCTGCATAA TBP1(−)1 TTATGCAGCCAGCAGACGCTGAGTAGAG 7 GTCTTGTGAGTGCCACCGCCCGTAGAG GAGCTAGAGGTAGT TBP1(−)2 AGAGGTTTTGGAGGTAGTCGTGGTAGTC 8 TTAGAGGATGTAGTGGTGGTTTTGCTAG AAGTCGTAGTGGT TBP1(−)3 GGAAGCTTTGGAAGTAGAGGTACCGC 9 CACCAGACGGCCAGTTTTCGTGGAAAC GAGCTTCGATGGATCC

Each oligonucleotide was phosphorylated with ATP using T4 polynucleotide kinase. The resulting oligonucleotides were mixed, boiled for 5 min, and then cooled to room temperature slowly. Finally, the annealed oligonucleotides were ligated with T4 DNA ligase to give synthetic DNA fragment TBP1, given as SEQ ID NO: 3.

Construction of pINK101 Expression Plasmid:

Lambda phage site-specific recombination was used for preparation and expression of the present fusion proteins (Gateway™ System; Invitrogen, Carlsbad, Calif.). TBP1 was integrated into the Gateway™ system for protein over-expression. In the first step, 2 μL of the TBP1 ligation mixture was used in a 50-μL PCR reaction. Reactions were catalyzed by pfu DNA polymerase (Stratagene, La Jolla, Calif.), following the standard PCR protocol. Primer 5′TBP1 (5′-CACCGGATCCATCGAAGGTCGT-3′; SEQ ID NO: 10) and 3′TBP1 (5′-TCATTATGCAGCCAGCAGCGC-3′; SEQ ID NO: 11) were used for amplification of the TBP1 fragment. Due to the design of these primers, an additional sequence of CACC and another stop codon TGA were added to the 5′ and 3′ ends of the amplified fragments.

The amplified TBP1 was directly cloned into pENTR™/D-TOPO® vector (SEQ ID NO: 12) using Invitrogen's pENTR™ directional TOPO® cloning kit (Invitrogen; Catalog K2400-20), resulting in the Gateway™ entry plasmid pENTR-TBP1. This entry plasmid was propagated in One Shot® TOP10 E. coli cells (Invitrogen). The accuracy of the PCR amplification and cloning procedures were confirmed by DNA sequencing analysis. The entry plasmid was mixed with pDEST17 (Invitrogen, SEQ ID NO: 13). LR recombination reactions were catalyzed by LR Clonase™ (Invitrogen). The destination plasmid, pINK101 was constructed and propagated in the DH5α E. coli strain. The accuracy of the recombination reaction was determined by DNA sequencing. All reagents for LR recombination reactions (i.e., lambda phage site-specific recombination) were provided in Invitrogen's E. coli expression system with the Gateway™ Technology kit. The site-specific recombination process followed the manufacturer's instructions (Invitrogen).

The resulting plasmid, named pINK101, contains the coding regions for recombinant protein 6H-TBP1, named INK101 (SEQ ID NOs 14 and 15), which is an 11.6 kDa protein. The protein sequence includes a 6× His tag and a 24 amino acid linker that includes Factor Xa protease recognition site before the sequence of the TBP101 peptide.

The amino acid coding region for the 6× His tag and the following linker comprising the Factor Xa protease recognition site were excised from pINK101 by digestion with the NdeI and BamHI restriction enzymes.

The TBP1 gene (SEQ ID NO: 3) encodes a polypeptide (SEQ ID NO: 4) having a ST linker flanked by Gly-Gly-Gly amino acids. The system was made more modular by further mutagenesis to change the upstream amino acid sequence from Gly-Gly-Gly to Ala-Gly-Gly (codon GGT changed to GCC) and the downstream Gly-Gly-Gly to Gly-Gly-Ala (codon GGT GGC changed to GGC GCC). These changes provided a NgoMI restriction site and a KasI restriction site flanking the ST linker, thus facilitating replacement of any element in TBP1.

Further modifications were made to TBP101 including the addition of an acid cleavable site to facilitate the removal of any tag sequence encoded by the region between the NdeI and BamHI sites of the expression plasmid. The resulting plasmid was called pLX121 (also referred to as “pINK101 DP”; SEQ ID NO: 16). These modifications changed the amino acids E-G to D-P (acid cleavable aspartic acid—proline linkage) using the Stratagene QuikChange® II Site-Directed Mutagenesis Kit Cat# 200523 (La Jolla, Calif.) as per the manufacturer's protocol using the primers INK101+ (5′-CCCCTTCACCGGATCCATCGATCCACGTTTCCACGAAAACTGGCC-3′; SEQ ID 17) and INK101− (5′-GGCCAGTTTTCGTGGAAACGTGGATCGATGGATCCGGTGMGGGG-3′; SEQ ID NO 18). The sequences were confirmed by DNA sequence analysis. The coding region and the corresponding amino acid sequence of the modified protein, INK101DP, is provided as SEQ ID NOs 19 and 20, respectively. INK101DP (also referred to herein as “TBP101 DP”) was used to evaluate the present inclusion body tags.

INK101DP Peptide (SEQ ID NO: 20) MSYYHHHHHHLESTSLYKKAGSAAAPFTGSI DP RFHENWPSAGGTSTS KASTTTTSSKTTTTSSKTTTTTSKTSTTSSSSTGGATHKTSTQRLLAA The aspartic acid—proline acid cleavable linker is bolded. The DP moiety replaces the EG moiety found in the unmodified TBP101 peptide (SEQ ID, NO: 4). The modified TBP101 peptide is underlined.

Example 2 Generation of Zein-based Inclusion Body Tag Library

Several series of inclusion body tag libraries were generated from the Zea mays zein storage protein (GenBank® Accession No. AAP32017; SEQ ID NO: 2 encoded by the coding sequence as represented by SEQ ID NO:1). Three series of putative inclusion body tags (typically 15 amino acids in length; one being only 13 amino acids in length) were prepared from 15 amino acid segments of the zein protein. Library series #1 (IBTs 65-79) was prepared by creating a set of 15 amino acid long peptides (IBT-79 is only 13 amino acids in length) from consecutive sequences spanning the entire length of the zein protein starting with amino acid residue position 1 of SEQ ID NO: 2 (i.e. IBT−65=amino acid residues 1-15 of SEQ ID NO: 2, IBT−66=amino acid residues 16-30 of SEQ ID NO: 2, etc.). Library series #2 (IBTs 80-121) was prepared in a similar fashion, except that the first member of the library series started with amino acid residue position 6 of SEQ ID NO: 2. Library series #3 (IBTs 122-135) was also prepared in a similar fashion starting at amino acid position 11 of SEQ ID NO: 2. In this way, an overlapping library 13-15 amino acid long peptides were prepared that spanned the entire length of zein protein (Table 2).

Based on the expression ranking data (i.e. the ability of the inclusion body tag to induce insoluble fusion protein when fused to a normally soluble peptide of interest; see Example 3), several additional inclusion body tags (IBTs 158-159) of varying length were prepared from regions of the zein protein suitable for use as inclusion body tags (Table 2).

Synthesis and Cloning Procedure for Preparing Inclusion Body Tags

The inclusion body tags were assembled from two complementary synthetic E. coli biased oligonucleotides (Sigma Genosys). Overhangs were included in each oligonucleotide to generate cohesive ends compatible with the restriction sites NdeI and BamHI.

The oligonucleotides (Table 2) were annealed by combining 100 pmol of each oligonucleotide in deionized water into one tube and heated in a water bath set at 99° C. for 10 minutes after which the water bath was turned off. The oligonucleotides were allowed to anneal slowly until the water bath reached room temperature (20-25° C.). The annealed oligonucleotides were diluted in 100 μL water prior to ligation into the test vector. The vector pLX121 (SEQ ID NO: 16) comprises the open reading frame encoding the INK101DP peptide (SEQ ID NO: 20). The vector was digested in Buffer 2 (New England Biolabs, Beverly, Mass.) comprising 10 mM Tris-HCl, 10 mM MgCl₂, 50 mM NaCl, 1 mM dithiothreitol (DTT); pH ˜7.9) with the NdeI and BamHI restriction enzymes to release a 90 bp fragment corresponding to the original His6 containing inclusion body fusion partner and the linker from the parental pDEST17 plasmid that includes the att site of the Gateway™ Cloning System. The NdeI-BamHI fragments from the digested plasmid were separated by agarose gel electrophoresis and the vector was purified from the gel by using Qiagen QIAquick® Gel Extraction Kit (QIAGEN Valencia, Calif.; cat# 28704).

The diluted and annealed oligonucleotides (approximately 0.2 pmol) were ligated with T4 DNA Ligase (New England Biolabs Beverly, Mass.; catalog # M0202) to NdeI-BamHI digested, gel purified, plasmid pLX121 (approximately 50 ng) at 12° C. for 18 hours. DNA sequence analysis confirmed the expected plasmid sequence.

TABLE 2 Oligonucleotide Sequences Used to Prepare the Various Inclusion Body Tags (IBTs) IBT Amino Amino Acid Acid Residue Sequence Positions of the Inclusion DNA Oligonucleotide (SEQ Zein Protein Body Tag strand (SEQ ID NO.) ID NO.) (SEQ ID NO: 2) IBT-65 + 21 111  1-15 IBT-65 − 22 IBT-66 + 23 112 16-30 IBT-66 − 24 IBT-67 + 25 113 31-45 IBT-67 − 26 IBT-68 + 27 114 46-60 IBT-68 − 28 IBT-69 + 29 115 61-75 IBT-69 − 30 IBT-70 + 31 116 76-90 IBT-70 − 32 IBT-71 + 33 117  91-105 IBT-71 − 34 IBT-72 + 35 118 106-120 IBT-72 − 36 IBT-73 + 37 119 121-135 IBT-73 − 38 IBT-74 + 39 120 136-150 IBT-74 − 40 IBT-75 + 41 121 151-165 IBT-75 − 42 IBT-76 + 43 122 166-180 IBT-76 − 44 IBT-77 + 45 123 181-195 IBT-77 − 46 IBT-78 + 47 124 196-210 IBT-78 − 48 IBT-79 + 49  125^(a)  211-223^(a) IBT-79 − 50 IBT-108 + 51 126  6-20 IBT-108 − 52 IBT-109 + 53 127 21-35 IBT-109 − 54 IBT-110 + 55 128 36-50 IBT-110 − 56 IBT-111 + 57 129 51-65 IBT-111 − 58 IBT-112 + 59 130 66-80 IBT-112 − 60 IBT-113 + 61 131 81-95 IBT-113 − 62 IBT-114 + 63 132  96-110 IBT-114 − 64 IBT-115 + 65 133 111-125 IBT-115 − 66 IBT-116 + 67 134 126-140 IBT-116 − 68 IBT-117 + 69 135 141-155 IBT-117 − 70 IBT-118 + 71 136 156-170 IBT-118 − 72 IBT-119 + 73 137 171-185 IBT-119 − 74 IBT-120 + 75 138 186-200 IBT-120 − 76 IBT-121 + 77 139 201-215 IBT-121 − 78 IBT-122 + 79 140 11-25 IBT-122 − 80 IBT-123 + 81 141 26-40 IBT-123 − 82 IBT-124 + 83 142 41-55 IBT-124 − 84 IBT-125 + 85 143 56-70 IBT-125 − 86 IBT-126 + 87 144 71-85 IBT-126 − 88 IBT-127 + 89 145  86-100 IBT-127 − 90 IBT-128 + 91 146 101-115 IBT-128 − 92 IBT-129 + 93 147 116-130 IBT-129 − 94 IBT-130 + 95 148 131-145 IBT-130 − 96 IBT-131 + 97 149 146-160 IBT-131 − 98 IBT-132 + 99 150 161-175 IBT-132 − 100 IBT-133 + 101 151 176-190 IBT-133 − 102 IBT-134 + 103 152 191-205 IBT-134 − 104 IBT-135 + 105 153 206-220 IBT-135 − 106 IBT-158 + 107 154  86-110 IBT-158 − 108 IBT-159 + 109 155  91-110 IBT-159 − 110 ^(a)IBT-79 is 13 amino acids in length.

The resulting expression vectors were individually transformed into the arabinose inducible expression strain E. coli BL21-Al (Invitrogen; cat# C6070-03).

Transformation and Expression

Each expression vector was individually transferred into BL21-Al chemically competent E. coli cells for expression analysis. To produce the recombinant protein, 3 mL of LB-ampicillin broth (10 g/L bacto-tryptone, 5 g/L bacto-yeast extract, 10 g/L NaCl, 100 mg/L ampicillin; pH 7.0) was inoculated with one colony of the transformed bacteria and the culture was shaken at 37° C. until the OD₆₀₀ reached 0.6. Expression was induced by adding 0.03 mL of 20% L-arabinose (final concentration 0.2%, Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, Mo.) to the culture and shaking was continued for another 3 hours. For whole cell analysis, 0.1 OD₆₀₀ mL of cells were collected, pelleted, and 0.06 mL SDS PAGE sample buffer (1×LDS Sample Buffer (Invitrogen cat# NP0007), 6 M urea, 100 mM DTT) was added directly to the whole cells. The samples were heated at 99° C. for 10 minutes to solubilize the proteins. The solubilized proteins were then loaded onto 4-12% gradient MES NuPAGE® gels (NuPAGE® gels cat #NP0322, MES Buffer cat# NP0002; Invitrogen) and visualized with a Coomassie® G-250 stain (SimplyBlue™ SafeStain; Invitrogen; cat# LC6060).

Example 3 Verification of Inclusion Body Formation

To verify that the fusion partner drove expression into insoluble inclusion bodies, it was necessary to lyse the collected cells (0.1 OD₆₀₀ mL of cells) and fractionate the insoluble from the soluble fraction by centrifugation. Cells were lysed using CelLytic™ Express (Sigma, St. Louis, Mo. cat# C-1990) according to the manufacturer's instructions. Cells that do not produce inclusion bodies undergo complete lysis and yielded a clear solution. Cells expressing inclusion bodies appeared turbid even after complete lysis.

The method used to rank all inclusion body tags was a subjective visual inspection of SimplyBlue™ SafeStain stained PAGE gels. The scoring system was 0, 1, 2 or 3. If no band is detected then a zero score is given. A score of three is given to very heavily stained wide expressed bands. Bands that are weak are scored a one and moderate bands are scored a two. Any score above zero indicated the presence of inclusion bodies (Table 4). Every amino acid has up to three opportunities to be in a tag. Except for the extreme C— and N-terminals of the scanned protein, there are scores per amino acid. These scores are added to give a final activity score for an individual amino acid.

Soluble and insoluble fractions were separated by centrifugation and analyzed by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and visualized with SimplyBlue™ SafeStain. Analysis of the cell protein by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis was used to detect the production of the fusion protein in the whole cell and insoluble fractions but not the soluble cell fraction. Several fusion proteins comprising a 15 amino acid long inclusion body tag derived from amino acid residues 76-175 of SEQ ID NO: 2 were found to be insoluble. This result suggested that it was possible to have very small fusion partners (at least 15 amino acids in length) to facilitate production of peptides in inclusion bodies (Table 4)

TABLE 3 Fusion Protein Sequences Fusion Protein Fusion Protein Expression Nucleic acid Amino Acid Plasmid Sequence Sequence Fusion Protein Designation (SEQ ID NO.) (SEQ ID NO.) IBT 65-TBP101 pLX240 156 157 IBT 66-TBP101 pLX257 158 159 IBT 67-TBP101 pLX276 160 161 IBT 68-TBP101 pLX242 162 163 IBT 69-TBP101 pLX247 164 165 IBT 70-TBP101 pLX277 166 167 IBT 71-TBP101 pLX241 168 169 IBT 72-TBP101 pLX258 170 171 IBT 73-TBP101 pLX259 172 173 IBT 74-TBP101 pLX260 174 175 IBT 75-TBP101 pLX250 176 177 IBT 76-TBP101 pLX248 178 179 IBT 77-TBP101 pLX244 180 181 IBT 78-TBP101 pLX278 182 183 IBT 79-TBP101 pLX249 184 185 IBT 108-TBP101 pLX266 186 187 IBT 109-TBP101 pLX267 188 189 IBT 110-TBP101 pLX268 190 191 IBT 111-TBP101 pLX269 192 193 IBT 112-TBP101 pLX270 194 195 IBT 113-TBP101 pLX271 196 197 IBT 114-TBP101 pLX272 198 199 IBT 115-TBP101 pLX273 200 201 IBT 116-TBP101 pLX274 202 203 IBT 117-TBP101 pLX275 204 205 IBT 118-TBP101 pLX299 206 207 IBT 119-TBP101 pLX300 208 209 IBT 120-TBP101 pLX301 210 211 IBT 121-TBP101 pLX302 212 213 IBT 122-TBP101 pLX303 214 215 IBT 123-TBP101 pLX304 216 217 IBT 124-TBP101 pLX305 218 219 IBT 125-TBP101 pLX306 220 221 IBT 126-TBP101 pLX307 222 223 IBT 127-TBP101 pLX319 224 225 IBT 128-TBP101 pLX308 226 227 IBT 129-TBP101 pLX235 228 229 IBT 130-TBP101 pLX309 230 231 IBT 131-TBP101 pLX320 232 233 IBT 132-TBP101 pLX310 234 235 IBT 133-TBP101 pLX311 236 237 IBT 134-TBP101 pLX312 238 239 IBT 135-TBP101 pLX321 240 241 IBT 158-TBP101 pLX343 242 243 IBT 159-TBP101 pLX344 244 245

TABLE 4 Inclusion Body Tag Expression Ranking Zein-based Inclusion Body IBT Tag Amino Acid Sequence Expression Designation (SEQ ID NO:) Ranking IBT 65 MRVLLVALALLALAA 0 (SEQ ID NO: 111) IBT 66 SATSTHTSGGCGCQP 0 (SEQ ID NO: 112) IBT 67 PPPVHLPPPVHLPPP 0 (SEQ ID NO: 113) IBT 68 VHLPPPVHLPPPVHL 0 (SEQ ID NO: 114) IBT 69 PPPVHLPPPVHVPPP 0 (SEQ ID NO: 115) IBT 70 VHLPPPPCHYPTQ 2 (SEQ ID NO: 116) IBT 71 RPQPHPQPHPCPCQQ 3 (SEQ ID NO: 117) IBT 72 PHPSPCQLQGTCGVG 0 (SEQ ID NO: 118) IBT 73 STPILGQCVEFLRHQ 2 (SEQ ID NO: 119) IBT 74 CSPTATPYCSPQCQS 0 (SEQ ID NO: 120) IBT 75 LRQQCCQQLRQVEPQ 1 (SEQ ID NO: 121) IBT 76 HRYQAIFGLVLQSIL 0 (SEQ ID NO: 122) IBT 77 QQQPQSGQVAGLLAA 0 (SEQ ID NO: 123) IBT 78 QIAQQLTAMCGLQQP 0 (SEQ ID NO: 124) IBT 79 TPCPYAAAGGVPH 1 (SEQ ID NO: 125) IBT 108 VALALLALAASATST 0 (SEQ ID NO: 126) IBT 109 HTSGGCGCQPPPPVH 0 (SEQ ID NO: 127) IBT 110 LPPPVHLPPPVHLPP 0 (SEQ ID NO: 128) IBT 111 PVHLPPPVHLPPPVH 0 (SEQ ID NO: 129) IBT 112 LPPPVHVPPPVHLPP 0 (SEQ ID NO: 130) IBT 113 PPCHYPTQPPRPQPH 3 (SEQ ID NO: 131) IBT 114 PQPHPCPCQQPHPSP 2 (SEQ ID NO: 132) IBT 115 CQLQGTCGVGSTPIL 1 (SEQ ID NO: 133) IBT 116 GQCVEFLRHQCSPTA 0 (SEQ ID NO: 134) IBT 117 TPYCSPQCQSLRQQC 1 (SEQ ID NO: 135) IBT 118 CQQLRQVEPQHRYQA 0 (SEQ ID NO: 136) IBT 119 IFGLVLQSILQQQPQ 0 (SEQ ID NO: 137) IBT 120 SGQVAGLLAAQIAQQ 0 (SEQ ID NO: 138) IBT 121 LTAMCGLQQPTPCPY 0 (SEQ ID NO: 139) IBT 122 LALAASATSTHTSGG 0 (SEQ ID NO: 140) IBT 123 CGCQPPPPVHLPPPV 0 (SEQ ID NO: 141) IBT 124 HLPPPVHLPPPVHLP 0 (SEQ ID NO: 142) IBT 125 PPVHLPPPVHLPPPV 0 (SEQ ID NO: 143) IBT 126 HVPPPVHLPPPPCHY 0 (SEQ ID NO: 144) IBT 127 PTQPPRPQPHPQPHP 3 (SEQ ID NO: 145) IBT 128 CPCQQPHPSPCQLQG 0 (SEQ ID NO: 146) IBT 129 TCGVGSTPILGQCVE 1 (SEQ ID NO: 147) IBT 130 FLRHQCSPTATPYCS 3 (SEQ ID NO: 148) IBT 131 PQCQSLRQQCCQQLR 2 (SEQ ID NO: 149) IBT 132 QVEPQHRYQAIFGLV 1 (SEQ ID NO: 150) IBT 133 LQSILQQQPQSGQVA 0 (SEQ ID NO: 151) IBT 134 GLLAAQIAQQLTAMC 0 (SEQ ID NO: 152) IBT 135 GLQQPTPCPYAAAGG 0 (SEQ ID NO: 153) IBT 158 PTQPPRPQPHPQPHPCPCQQPH 2 PSP (SEQ ID NO: 154) IBT 159 RPQPHPQPHPCPCQQPHPSP 2 (SEQ ID NO: 155)

Example 4 Synthesis, Cloning, and Evaluation of Fusion Peptides Comprising Inclusion Body Tags IBT-180 and IBT-181

The expression ranking data from the various inclusion body tags was evaluated and used to design two additional inclusion body tags (IBT-180 and IBT-181) comprising a T7 translational enhancer (MASMTGGQQMG; SEQ ID NO: 246) linked to the N-terminal portion of an inclusion body forming region of the zein protein. This sequence was provided to standardize the critical N-terminal translated sequence, which is known to be especially important in determining translation initiation efficiency (Stormo, G. “Translation Initiation” in Reznikov, W and Gold, L, Maximizing Gene Expression Butterworths, Boston, Mass. (1986) pp. 195-224.)

Design of Inclusion Body Tags IBT-180 and IBT-181

An alignment of the inclusion body tags exhibiting inclusion body forming ability was performed against the zein protein. The initial library of overlapping inclusion body tags was designed span the entire length of the zein protein. Based on the overlapping nature of the inclusion body tag library, every amino acid had up to three opportunities to be in a tag. Relative scores were assigned to each amino acid within the zein protein based on the frequency of occurrence within a peptide tag capable of inducing inclusion body formation. The relative scores were used to assign a final activity score for each amino acid. When activity score for each amino acid was plotted over the length of the scanned protein, a map was generated depicting the ability of certain domains on the scanned protein to induce inclusion body formation. From this assessment, it was determined that inclusion body tags prepared from the region of the zein protein encompassed by amino acid residues 76-175 of SEQ ID NO: 2 was particularly effective in inducing inclusion body formation.

A 100 amino acid long functional inclusion body tag, IBT-181 (SEQ ID NO: 248), comprising amino acid residues 76 to 175 of SEQ ID NO: 2 and a shorter 30 amino acid inclusion body tag, IBT-180 (SEQ ID NO: 247), comprising a subset of this region (amino acid residues 76 to 105 of SEQ ID NO: 2) were prepared. Both tags also included a short 11 amino acid T7 tag (a translational enhancer) (MASMTGGQQMG; SEQ ID NO: 246) added to the N-terminus of each tag.

Synthesis and Cloning Procedure of IBT-180 and IBT-181

The nucleic acid molecules encoding the inclusion body tags IBT-180 (SEQ ID NO: 247) and IBT-181 (SEQ ID NO: 248) were synthesized and delivered as plasmids harboring kanamycin resistance by DNA 2.0 Inc. (Menlo Park, Calif.). The nucleotide sequence encoding each inclusion body tag was flanked by NdeI and BamHI restriction sites.

The vector comprising the nucleic acid molecule encoding the IBT-180 tag was digested in Buffer 2 (New England Biolabs 10 mM Tris-HCl, 10 mM MgCl₂, 50 mM NaCl, 1 mM dithiothreitol; pH7.9) with the NdeI and BamHI restriction enzymes (New England Biolabs Beverly, Mass.). Likewise, the test system expression vector pLX121 (SEQ ID NO: 16) was digested with NdeI and BamHI as described in the previous examples. The IBT-180 inclusion body tag restriction digest was directly ligated to the NdeI/BamHI digested test expression vector pLX121 with T4 DNA Ligase (New England Biolabs Beverly, Mass. cat# M0202) at 12° C. for 18 hours. Ampicillin resistant colonies were sequenced. The sequence of the plasmid (pLX363) was confirmed. Expression plasmid pLX363 comprises the chimeric gene encoding the IBT 180-TBP101 fusion protein (SEQ ID NOs: 249 and 250), operably linked to an arabinose inducible promoter.

Inclusion body tag IBT-181 (SEQ ID BO: 248) was cloned using the same procedure as described for IBT-180, resulting in the expression plasmid pLX364. Expression plasmid pLX364 comprises the chimeric gene encoding the IBT 181-TBP101 fusion protein (SEQ ID NOs: 251 and 252), operably linked to an arabinose inducible promoter.

Transformation and Expression of IBT-180 and IBT-181

Expression plasmids pLX363 and pLX364 were transformed, expressed, and evaluated using the procedures described in Examples 2 and 3. The expression ranking results are provided in Table 5.

TABLE 5 Inclusion Body Tag Expression Ranking for IBT-180 and IBT-181 Zein-based Inclusion Body IBT Tag Amino Acid Sequence Expression Designation (SEQ ID NO:) Ranking IBT 180 MASMTGGQQMGVHLPPPPCHY 2 PTQPPRPQPHPQPHPCPCQQ (SEQ ID NO: 247) IBT 181 MASMTGGQQMGVHLPPPPCHY 2 PTQPPRPQPHPQPHPCPCQQPH PSPCQLQGTCGVGSTPILGQCVE FLRHQCSPTATPYCSPQCQSLR QQCCQQLRQVEPQHRYQAIFGL V (SEQ ID NO: 248) 

1. An inclusion body tag consisting of 15 contiguous amino acids residues from amino acids residues 76 to 175 of SEQ ID NO:
 2. 2. A fusion peptide comprising the inclusion body tag of claim 1 operably linked to at least one peptide of interest.
 3. The fusion peptide of claim 2, further comprising at least one cleavable peptide linker having a cleavage site.
 4. The fusion peptide of claim 2 wherein the peptide of interest is selected from the group consisting of a peptide that binds to a polymer, a peptide that binds to hair, a peptide that binds to nail, a peptide that binds to skin, a peptide that binds to an antimicrobial substance. 